COLERNE, Wiltshire, UK -- Legendary former Port
Vale player and Carlisle United manager Ivor Powell,
has finally hung up his boots, after training more than 9,000
players over 37 years, at the age of 93 , setting the world record for the Oldest
Football Coach.

Ivor, born in Bargoed, Caerphilly,
who played 14 times for Wales, was part of Don Revie's backroom
staff at Leeds United.

The
World's Oldest Football Coach said: "I can't imagine
life without football. I'll still be putting on my boots and
popping in once a week to keep an eye on things."

Ivor Powell, who worked in the mines before
earning a career in football, began his career by signing
for Queen's Park Rangers in 1933, over three-quarters of a
century ago.

He was forced to put his football career on hold
when the Second World War broke out and the RAF posted him
to India. While there he was reportedly introduced to spiritual
leader Mahatma Gandhi.

He went on to be the Wayne Rooney of his time,
playing for Blackpool and Aston Villa, and setting a record
transfer fee of £17,500 in 1946.

Born in Bargoed, Caerphilly, Mr Powell also played
14 times as a Welsh international.

For the past 37 years, The
Oldest Football Coach in The World
has trained players for the Bath University team -
coaching thousands of footballers, most of them just a quarter
of his current age.

In 2002, Mr Powell took Team Bath
to the first round of the FA Cup, and six years later he was
awarded the MBE for services to sport. In 2004 he was inducted
into the Welsh Sports Hall of Fame and he was made an MBE
in the 2008 New Year’s Honours List.

The university have recognised Powell’s
incredible contribution to the game by setting up a football
scholarship in his name.

Now living in Colerne, Wiltshire, he describes
football is his life.

He said: "I joke that I've been trying to get
out (of the game) for years, but they won't let me. But really,
I just can't get enough and can't imagine my life without
football.

"I feel so proud of what I've done. I've
been very, very happy at the University of Bath and I mean
that.